I’m still trying to understand exactly how and why a punitive expedition to uproot and disrupt Al Qaeda in Afghanistan became a ten year long “nation-building” campaign. My best guess is that the Al Qaeda issue was only one of the motivess behind our intrusion, with the other unspoken goal being to establish a client state on the eastern flank of Iran that would be friendly to US interests. If so, this venture will stand as a testimonial to unrealistic adventurism on the part of the US State Department (and possibly the Bush White House).
Its the “quiet American” all over again.
In my view, America’s geopolitical ambitions in Central Asia are just too ambitious. That region is China and Russia’s background and it was foolhardy to assume that these experienced major players would just sit back and allow the Americans to dominate that region.
I think it is enough to dominate the Middle East, there was no way the Chinese would let the US dominate Pakistan. After the debacle in Iraq, the US neither has the will nor the stomach to effectively contain Iran.
(With the Arab Spring, even the US hold on the Middle East appears shaky).
The US needs a more humble and realistic foreign policy if she must avoid overextending herself.